Chapter 3 Clara the Clairvoyant Summary

When Clara is ten years old Trueba is twenty-six years old. At ten, Clara suffers a sort of awakening which results in her becoming mute. She remains mute from circa 1924 through 1933, roughly the period of time when Trueba is away at Tres Mariás. This is the first of two prolonged periods in her life when she will become voluntarily mute. Also during this time Clara exhibits clear extrasensory abilities: moving large objects around the room with her mind; clairvoyance and precognition; and the ability to clearly communicate with the spirits of the dead and other types of spirits. Clara ends her muteness by announcing that she will be married in one year.

Clara's parents have a total of fifteen children, not all of whom live to adulthood. Most of the children are not named and beside...